Combining the old adage about death and taxes, French authorities have sent a demand for property duties to a dead woman — addressed to her grave in a small town in Brittany.

The mayor of the seaside town of Sarzeau said he had received a letter from the public finance offices to a dead resident, addressed to “grave 24, row E, cemetery road”, his secretary said on Saturday.

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The town’s treasurer Christophe Libre told the Ouest France regional newspaper it was a demand for property taxes.

“Unfortunately it’s not the first time we’ve had this sort of letter from the public finance centre in Vannes,” Libre told the paper. Vannes is the nearest large town to Sarzeau.

He said it could have been a “joke from someone doing the change of address,” or “one of the heirs who didn’t want to pay the property tax”.